By Lian Cheng
KUCHING, May 3: There is a need to increase the allocation for the Nanga Ngungun-Nanga Jagau Road project as the initial allocation is insufficient, the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) was told today.
In thanking the state government for allocating RM100 million this year through the Ulu Rajang Development Agency (URDA) for the initial construction of that long-awaited 22km road, Alexander Vincent (GPS-Ngemah), however, said the amount was not enough for an R2 standard road.
“Therefore, it is sought that the government will allocate more funds based on the Consultant Report in order to complete the job,” he said when debating the TYT’s speech today.
Alexander also appealed for allocation of farming land for the residents of three Rejang Security Command (Rascom) resettlement areas in his constituency, namely Nanga Tada, Nanga Ngungun and Nanga Jagau.
He said the three settlements were hosting 65 longhouses with a population of about 4,000.
During the Communist Insurgency in 1972, the residents were asked to move to these resettlement areas from their ancestral land, and they were promised by the government at that time to be given five acres of land per door for farming, i.e for planting paid, rubber, cash crop and pepper etc and rearing of livestock.
“However, those matters remained unattended until today, because of the lack of land nearby, compared to their original place. They have to use smaller pieces of land for farming in order to earn their living.
“Despite their hardship, they still remain loyal to the government and the state as a whole.
“I wish, therefore, to urge the state government to provide land near the resettlement areas concerned to ease their burden and at the same time, for them to continue their farming activities,” he said.
Meanwhile, Alexander believed that the construction of more telecommunication towers and improvement to the existing towers should be carried out across the state to improve telecommunication services, particularly in the rural areas.
“I wish to request the state government to construct more telecommunication towers in my constituency, as there is still very poor reception of internet and telecommunication in some parts of Ngemah constituency,” he lamented. — DayakDaily
